Osun monarch jailed four years in US for $4.2m COVID-19 fraud

The Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, has been sentenced to more than four years in prison in the United States.

Oloyede, 62, who holds dual U.S. and Nigerian citizenship and resides in Medina, Ohio, was on August 26 handed 56 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Christopher A. Boyko.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio in a statement on Tuesday, the monarch, was also ordered to “serve three years of supervised release after imprisonment and pay $4,408,543.38 in restitution.

“He also forfeited his Medina home on Foote Road, which he had acquired with proceeds of the scheme, and an additional $96,006.89 in fraud proceeds investigators had seized,” the statement read.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Oloyede led a conspiracy to exploit COVID-19 emergency loan programmes created for struggling businesses.

“From about April 2020 to February 2022, Oloyede and his co-conspirator, Edward Oluwasanmi, conspired to submit fraudulent applications for loans that were made available through the U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act,” the statement read.

In April, the duo pleaded guilty to wire fraud and tax fraud charges linked to a pandemic relief scam that siphoned over $4.2m in federal stimulus funds.

The court was told that Oloyede, who also worked as a tax preparer, “operated five businesses and one nonprofit, while Oluwasanmi owned an additional three business entities.

“Both defendants used their businesses to submit loan applications using false information.

“They obtained approximately $1.2 million in SBA funds for Oluwasanmi’s entities and $1.7 million for Oloyede’s entities,” the statement added.

The elaborate fraud went even further.

According to investigators, “Oloyede submitted fraudulent PPP and EIDL applications in the names of some of his clients and their businesses.

“In exchange, Oloyede would receive 15-20% of their loans as the fee, or kickback, for obtaining the loans for them, without reporting this income to the IRS on his own tax returns.”

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The funds were then used for personal gain, prosecutors said.

“Investigators learned that the defendant used funds obtained from these loans to acquire land and build a home and purchase a luxury vehicle,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office disclosed.

In all, Oloyede “caused the SBA to approve 38 fraudulent applications, amounting to $4,213,378 in disbursed loans and advances.”

His co-conspirator, Oluwasanmi, 62, of Willoughby, was earlier sentenced in July to 27 months in prison.

He was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution, forfeit a commercial property purchased with fraud proceeds, and surrender more than $600,000 held in financial accounts.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office emphasized the significance of the conviction, noting that the case was jointly investigated by the Department of Transportation Office of the Inspector General, the FBI Cleveland Division, and IRS-Criminal Investigations as part of the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee Fraud Task Force.

“This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Edward D. Brydle and James L. Morford for the Northern District of Ohio,” the release concluded.